Reddan enjoying battling on multiple fronts

ASK any player, once you buy a ticket for rugby’s merry-go-round its nigh on impossible to get off.

For your average Irish international the season is a blizzard of competitions, a lurching schedule of Magners League, Heineken Cup and international Tests with what seems to be little in the way of rhyme nor reason.

The rise of the Heineken Cup has seen it challenge the international arena at the head of the game’s accepted hierarchy and, though the Magners League has also improved beyond recognition, it remains the less salubrious of the three. In that light, the task facing Joe Schmidt’s Leinster this weekend will be to park last week’s defeat of Leicester at the Aviva Stadium and refocus on the domestic duties awaiting them at the RDS when Ulster come to town.

Not a problem, says Eoin Reddan.

“You feel like the bit’s between your teeth after a game like that,” he said of the 17-10 success against the Premiership kingpins. “Confidence and the buzz is high and you want to get back out there and follow on. In the squad, there are a lot of guys who have been successful and want to continue to be successful. Some people just have the bite to carry on.

“That’s definitely within the squad and people will be aware of that. They will be looking to kick on again on Saturday. You have to go on. Everybody’s pulling in the one direction and we’re looking to get Leinster over the line in two competitions and that’s not going to be easy but it’s certainly a massive ambition of ours.”

Reddan is quick to point out that trophies tend to be handed out in May rather than April but he likes what he is seeing at work these days, the confidence that exudes from the collective regardless of whether they are defending or attacking. In many ways, it all reminds him of the three years he spent at Adams Park with London Wasps, with whom he played 125 times (one-fifth of them in Europe) and picked up a Heineken Cup and Premiership title.

“It’s because of the experience we have in the team. There are a lot of players in there with a lot of medals in different competitions, whether it be at international or club level, and there’s a lot of knowing where you need to be and that is going to be very important.”

Reddan is better versed than most as to the standard and depth of this Leinster squad, currently in fourth place in the Magners League. Signed as a replacement for Chris Whitaker in 2009, he kept a firm grip on the number nine shirt last season but has had to share it since the arrival of Isaac Boss from Ulster last summer.

Though the Irishman is still considered by most to be the province’s first-choice scrum-half, he has completed the 80 minutes just once this campaign and has started a number of key games on the bench in both Magners and Heineken fixtures.

The perception, rightly or wrongly, is that Reddan is the ‘home’ nine with Boss the preferred choice for the road trips but neither man will admit to over-analysing a rivalry that hasn’t stopped them developing a personal friendship.

“It’s clear that both of us are playing well,” said Reddan, “but there are other scrum-halves at this club playing well as well, so you just have to take the opportunity when you are playing and when you aren’t use that as an opportunity to work on things.”

Whichever of them gets the nod from Schmidt this weekend will go head to head with Ulster’s Ruan Pienaar, the highly-rated ultra-versatile Springbok who has been pulling the strings for the province at half-back alongside Ian Humphries since signing in the summer.

Reddan’s take on him? “You can’t give penalties away. He’s won a lot of games for them in the dying minutes and he has a very good temperament. He’s a skilful scrum-half, he gets to the breakdown quickly and he keeps the flow of their game going.”

A trip to Italy to face Aironi awaits Leinster after Saturday’s business and then it is back to European affairs when Toulouse, the reigning Heineken Cup champions and Leinster’s conquerors, travel to Dublin on the back of their win over Biarritz last Sunday.

“They will be delighted with their win. Over the moon. They know all you have to do is stay alive and you can turn it on when you need to. They will be tough, as much because of the team they are and because of the experience.”